The Revolutionary Revelation

What would a world without Torah look like?

What would the world look like if the Torah had never been given? Join me, if you will, for a tour of New York City in a hypothetical world where the revelation at Sinai never took place.

We drive across the Brooklyn Bridge, speed down the FDR Drive, and park our car in a massive concrete-and-steel garage. We walk through the streets of downtown Manhattan and crane our necks to gaze at the glittering tops of the skyscrapers. Knowing that the pagan civilizations of antiquity excelled in technological accomplishments, we're not surprised that technology forges ahead in a world devoid of Torah.

Next we meander through Lincoln Center. We hear the music of a concert in progress, pass a theater where a contemporary drama is being enacted, and see well-dressed people lined up to buy tickets for the ballet. Art does not need Torah to flourish.

From there we head to Wall Street. We peek into the Stock Exchange. Business and commerce are thriving. No difference here.

Our tour then takes us to residential neighborhoods crammed with high-rise apartment buildings. Here for the first time we notice something missing. There are no schools.

There is one lively academy for the wealthy and well-born, but education for the masses? How ludicrous!

What happened to PS 132 and Woodrow Wilson High School and City College? Uptown, we are told, there is one lively academy for the wealthy and well-born, but education for the masses? Our guide snickers. "How ludicrous!"

As Rabbi Ken Spiro points out in his superb book, WorldPerfect education for all was an implausible notion in the pagan world (as in polytheistic societies today), where the literacy rate was generally 1/10 of 1%. Even ancient Rome, which needed a literate ruling class to administer its far-flung empire, boasted a literary rate of only 10-15%. Not only did Greece and Rome not deem it beneficial to educate the masses, but they viewed education as a potential danger to the stability of society.

The Torah innovated the idea of education for all. It specifically commanded parents to educate their children. [Deut. 6:7] In fact, a code of law as intricate as the Torah and as obligatory on all members of the society, inherently demanded study. If a Jew didn't know what all the commandments entailed, how could he fulfill them? Thus mass education was a Torah-mandated value throughout Jewish history, causing the medieval monk Peter Abelhard to write: "A Jew, however poor, even if he had ten sons, would put them all to letters, not for gain as the Christians do, but for understanding of God's law. And not only his sons, but his daughters."

As we continue our tour of New York City, we notice that we have not heard a single ambulance siren. When we ask, "Where are the hospitals?" we are met with a blank stare. "You must know what we mean," we persist, "the place where the sick are cared for and lives are saved."

A glint of understanding: "Oh, yes. We have a place which provides medical care… for those who can afford it, of course."

"And for the others?" we ask, appalled. "You can't just let them die."

"Why not?" is the puzzled retort.

No society before Torah or without Torah attributed intrinsic value to human life.

No society before Torah or without Torah attributed intrinsic value to human life. It follows that for the government or society to spend its resources to heal or preserve life -- and to feel such urgency to save life that they would outfit ambulances -- would be considered a nonsensical enterprise. The right to life, which the American Declaration of Independence considered "self-evident," was not evident to any society in the world before or after Sinai, except where the Torah's influence penetrated.

On the contrary, infanticide of undesirable babies (such as girls and those with even minor disabilities) was universally practiced, and endorsed by such "enlightened" thinkers as Aristotle. Killing for entertainment was the most popular amusement in ancient Rome, where 50,000 people would crowd into the Coliseum to watch convicted criminals (for capital crimes such as professing Christianity), slaves, and POWs fed to the lions and gladiators fight to the death. In between these spectacular killings, lest the crowd get bored, routine executions by burning, beheading, and skinning people alive were offered for amusement during intermission.

Into a world where killing for convenience or sport was the universal norm, the Torah introduced the concept of the sacredness of life. "Do not murder," the sixth of the Ten Commandments revealed at Sinai, was not simply ethical pragmatism as it was in other ancient law codes, whose goal was to protect not the individual, but rather the stability of society. The Torah asserted that all human beings -- including infants, slaves, and convicted criminals -- were holy because they were created in the image of God. As the Talmud proclaimed: "He who saves one life is as if he had saved the whole world." The value of the individual -- and therefore his or her life -- is a Torah innovation.

In India in 1981, I knew a couple whose 22-year-old son had been injured in a traffic accident while riding his motor scooter through the streets of Calcutta. The young man lay on the crowded thoroughfare for seven hours, until he bled to death. This is a society where Torah has not penetrated.

Our tour of Manhattan-sans-Torah takes us to a small but stately building. We're informed that this is the courthouse for the entire city. "How can such a small courthouse serve millions of people?" we ask, perplexed.

"Millions of people?" is the astonished reply. "Only a few thousand people -- the elite -- have the right to bring lawsuits."

When the Torah laid down the principle of equal justice before the law, the rest of the world must have laughed. "You shall not commit a perversion of justice; you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the mighty" [Lev. 19:15] would have been regarded as outlandish had not God commanded it. According to the Torah, even a king is not above the law and even a slave is not below it. Jewish courts do -- and always have -- heard cases initiated by wronged workers, women, and foreigners. By contrast, ancient Athens, the so-called "cradle of democracy," extended full legal rights to only a few thousand men who owned land, leaving its other hundreds of thousands of residents (including women, artisans, peasants, and slaves) with no recourse to the law.

In the corridor of the courthouse, we notice something curious on the wall. It is a conglomeration of twelve lines of numbers. "This is a calendar," our guide explains. "It marks off the days, months, and years."

"What about the weeks?" we ask.

"What are weeks?" our guide inquires quizzically.

The division of time into seven-day units punctuated by the Sabbath, a day of rest, is an invention of the Torah. It corresponds to no natural cycle. Completely counter-productive of material goals, the Sabbath addresses the unique spiritual need for reconnection and re-creation. Even those denizens of the Western world for whom "the weekend" means not spiritual refreshment but shopping at the mall must appreciate the Torah's gift of one day off in seven.

Having lived in India, a society where every day resembles every other (except for the Sunday closing of schools and government offices, imposed by the British colonizers), I have seen how human beings are eroded by the tedium of a 365-day year of unremitting work. Now, in the small courthouse, I look around and notice the same exhausted expressions.

We head over to First Avenue and 46th Street only to discover that the familiar landmark of the United Nations headquarters is absent. Bewildered, we ask: "Isn't there some international body whose purpose, at least in principle, is to settle disputes between nations in a peaceful manner, without resort to war?"

Our guide is confused. "What would be the point of that? War is the noblest endeavor of man. War spawns heroes -- mighty warriors whose prowess vanquishes the enemy. And how else will a nation expand its borders and increase its power without the glorious enterprise of war?"

We despair of a meeting of minds, and begin to search for a curved wall where the antithetical vision of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah is emblazoned: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nations shall not lift up sword against nations. Neither shall they learn war anymore."

There isn't even the ideal of peace in this world in which the Torah was never given.

We search in vain. There is no inscription, no wall, not even the ideal of peace in this world in which the Torah was never given.

We walk north, past the fashionable uptown, into a low-income neighborhood, and here the most conspicuous difference grips us. The streets are lined with unfortunates -- blind people, crippled people, starving children. They reach out their hands and plead with us for help. It reminds me of the cities of India. "Why are these people on the street?" we demand. "Where are the orphanages? The social service agencies? The institutions for the blind and the deaf? The soup kitchens? The rehabilitation centers for the handicapped?"

"What are you suggesting?" comes the outraged response. "There's nothing like that here, and why should there be? We didn't hurt these people. It's not our fault if they're hungry or handicapped. We bear no responsibility to help them."

As Ken Spiro points out in WorldPerfect, into a world where numerous law codes prohibited murder, theft, and various anti-social behaviors, the Torah burst into the scene with a completely novel concept: the obligation to proactively do good. "Love your neighbor as yourself," [Lev. 19:18] and "Do not stand by your neighbor's blood," [Lev. 19:16] charged humankind with social responsibility, an idea that sans-Torah societies never dreamed of.

The Torah, which Thomas Huxley called, "the Magna Carta of the poor and of the oppressed," drove this point home with a multitude of specific commandments aimed at providing aid to the impoverished, the widow, the orphan, and the alien. The Torah obligated human beings to take responsibility for the welfare of people outside their own clans and beyond the precincts of their own homes, not because it was salubrious for the body politic, but because a just and loving God demanded compassion from all His children for all His children. This planet has never known a more original idea.

THE TORAH REVOLUTION

Our tour of New York City would not suffice to reveal the truly cataclysmic revolution caused by the revelation at Sinai. Without Torah not only our world but also our lives would be profoundly different.

If we lived in a world in which the Torah had never been given, we would be unrecognizable to ourselves. As author Thomas Cahill, a Catholic, wrote in his book, The Gifts of the Jews:

Without the Jews, we would see the world through different eyes, hear with different ears, even feel with different feelings. And not only would our sensorium, the screen through which we receive the world, be different: we would think with a different mind, interpret all our experience differently, draw different conclusions from the things that befall us. And we would set a different course for our lives.

It is important to keep in mind that all the innovations with which Cahill credits the Jews (whom he labels, "the inventors of Western culture") have their source not in the Jews themselves, but in the Divine revelation to the Jews. While the Patriarch Abraham was indeed an original thinker and the one who discovered monotheism, no person or force in the world could have so radically changed the world. The lever which lifted the planet had to be positioned outside it. Such drastic transformation could have been initiated only through Divine revelation.

What was the paradigm shift that revolutionized human thinking and striving? Cahill points out that all ancient cultures viewed time as cyclical. No event or person was unique. He writes:

The Jews were the first people to break out of this circle, to find a new way of thinking and experiencing, a new way of understanding and feeling the world, so much so that it may be said with some justice that theirs is the only new idea that human beings have ever had. But their worldview has become so much a part of us that at this point it might as well have been written into our cells as a genetic code.

Time is the warp upon which human beings weave their sense of reality. Where time is regarded as cyclical, reality is characterized by fate, the inexorable predictability of nature, the devaluation of the present moment, and the futility of human striving.

Circles have no purpose; they revolve round and round. The gods of the ancient pantheons, like the gods of India today, claim no purpose. Their actions are divine sport, lila in Hindu terminology, meaning "play." In such a worldview, the only worthy human goal is liberation -- to somehow escape the wheel of birth and death.

The Torah introduced a purposeful God, with a plan for human history.

The Torah introduced a purposeful God, with a plan for human history. If humankind will obey the commandments -- the Divinely ordained blueprint -- then a utopian world will ensue. The future will be different -- and better -- than the past. Thus the Torah introduced linear time. In so doing, it catapulted humanity into a world of meaningful moral choices, where human beings could create their own destinies, forge their own futures.

The narratives of the Torah take place in linear -- not cyclical -- time. They recount the stories of people who were important not as archetypes (as in all other ancient epics), but as individuals, people who were important not because they wielded great power, but because they made significant choices.

Those inner choices impacted their descendents and created history. History not as a record of wars waged and won, but as a testimony of moral battles that gave life meaning and purpose. Abraham obeying God even at the cost of his precious son's life, Jacob wrestling with the angel of evil, Joseph resisting the temptations of Potipher's wife, Moses reluctantly accepting the mantle of leadership at the burning bush -- these are the momentous events which the Torah chooses to recount. In so doing, it imbues all of our lives, all down the ages, with meaning and possibility.

THE REVELATION AT SINAI

The upcoming holiday of Shavuot commemorates the world-shaking event of the Divine revelation at Sinai. It is a day to reaffirm our commitment to studying and implementing the Torah.

On that day 3316 years ago, the infinite God burst through the barrier of human finitude and in the presence of an entire nation revealed His Commandments.

Thomas Cahill's description of the setting is lyrical:

It is no accident, therefore, that the great revelations of God's own Name and of his Commandments occur in a mountainous desert, as far from civilization and its contents as possible, in a place as unlike the lush predictabilities and comforts of the Nile and the Euphrates as this earth of ours can offer. If God -- the Real God, the One God -- was to speak to human beings and if there was any possibility of their hearing him, it could happen only in a place stripped of all cultural reference points, where even nature… seemed absent. Only amid inhuman rock and dust could this fallible collection of human beings imagine becoming human in a new way.

The revelation at Sinai was the singular most momentous event in human history. When I consider what our lives would have been without it, I can only shudder.

Sara Yoheved Rigler’s all-encompassing online marriage program, “Choose Connection: How to Revive and Rejuvenate Your Marriage” is available to Aish.com readers at a special price. Click here for more info: http://www.jewishworkshops.com/webinars/connection/

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About the Author

Sara Yoheved Rigler is a popular international lecturer on subjects of Jewish spirituality. She has given lectures and workshops in Israel, England, France, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Panama, and over 35 American cities. She is one of the most popular authors on Aish.com, world’s biggest Judaism website, and is a columnist for Ami Magazine. Sara Yoheved Rigler is the author of five best-sellers: Holy Woman; Lights from Jerusalem; Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara (with Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller); G-d Winked; and Heavenprints . She gives a weekly Marriage Webinar for Jewish Workshops on a spiritual approach to marriage, with hundreds of members throughout the world. She lives in the Old City of Jerusalem. Her newest book, Emunah with Love and Chicken Soup, the story of Henny Machlis, the Brooklyn-born girl who became a Jerusalem legend, was was released in November, 2016. Her website is: sararigler.com.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 58

(50)
Elizabeth,
June 3, 2016 9:05 AM

Brilliant article

Thank you so much for this brilliant article. It's something I've often pondered and attempted to put into words, the debt we all - every single human being in the Western world - owe to the revelation of G-d to the Jewish people. Every idea of social justice stems from this event. I've never read it described so well.

(49)
sarah spielman,
June 2, 2016 6:52 PM

brilliant

(48)
ruchama,
May 22, 2015 9:32 PM

now i know what to ask my kids at our Shavuos meal

Thanks, this was brilliant and inspiring. What a great way to generate discussion at our Shavuos meal. I can ask mykids your question: How would the world look if there hadn't been a Torah? and see what they come up with. Whatever they don't arrive at on their own, your amazing article will supply.

(47)
MIriam,
May 14, 2013 11:24 AM

Wow, Sara Yoheved, you have a gift.

Exquisite. Thank you.

(46)
Rachel,
April 25, 2013 9:20 PM

One more point

I understand the purpose of your article is to point out the contributions of Torah wisdom to our modern lives. But to take the point to another level, it says that God looked into the Torah to create the world, i.e. the Torah is the blueprint for the world. Without Torah, there would be no world, period!Thanks for all the thought-provoking ideas!

es58,
May 17, 2013 3:40 PM

beyond the "blueprint" analogy

R' Akiva Tatz (if I get this wrong, it's my interpretation that I have imposed on his thought) extends the traditional blueprint analogy to say that torah is the dna of the universe. You can look at a blueprint, which is static, and build something that isn't there. DNA causes the thing to be as it is. If someone reads the talmud, and sees some insight and says: wow, the torah is so insightful that it accurately described/predicted some aspect of our world, they have it backwards. The world *is* as it is, *because* the torah says so.

(45)
David,
May 22, 2012 10:02 PM

Careful with this sort of thing...

I think it would be a terrible mistake to minimize the contribution of the Torah to the world. But the flip side of this sort of off-beat intellectual exercise would be "imagine a world where the pagans hadn't existed and we had only the Torah." No democracy, limited religious freedom, no museums, no athletics, no free philosophical inquiry, a backwards economy, slavery... in the end, it's probably a great thing that Western Civilization has blended the contributions of the Jews and the pagans.

rachel,
April 25, 2013 9:16 PM

can you clarify...

Can you clarify how you know that museums, religious freedom, economy and no slavery were contributions of the pagans? Museums are education and history, both of which the Torah advocates. The Torah does not allow slavery except for in a specific instance where a thief can voluntarily sell himself for a limited time in order to repay a debt he does not have the means to repay otherwise. The Torah requires us to take care of our bodies, i.e. exercise and eat well. And modern Western Civiization is based mostly on British and American values, both of which stem from the Torah.

Anonymous,
May 12, 2013 8:41 PM

Slavery in Torah is more than just debt resolution

Torah also allows for chattel slavery, albeit not among Israelites. Captives of war could be bought and sold as slaves who were not subject to the schmitta/every-seventh-year release requirements. The same held for non-Jewish slaves who were bought from non-Jewish slave traders. In much later times, observant Jews were slave owners in the pre-Civil War American South. In fact one of the highest ranking leaders of the Confederacy, Judah P. Benjamin, was a former slave owner.

Miriam,
June 3, 2014 10:40 AM

slavery

just a note that Jewish slavery is vastly different than what the world views as slavery. If a master only has one pillow in the house, the slave sleeps with it. If there is a good piece of meat and a bad piece of meat, the slave is served the good piece of meat. In Judaism, owning a slave is a serious responsibility. So when you say that the Torah allows for "slaves" please clarify that the Torah is NOT advocating for gross abuse, neglect etc that most people associate with slavery.

(44)
Anonymous,
June 8, 2011 2:34 AM

Rebecca was chosen for her "kindness" to animals (and probably to all who had no voice) - even before Torah

(43)
Anonymous,
June 7, 2011 8:33 PM

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.This article was better than any relaxation method for my soul! May we all follow the peaceful paths of the Torah. What a great article!!!!

(42)
Robert,
June 7, 2011 4:22 PM

New York in a non-Torah world

This essay was great to point out the things that would be missing from a world without Torah. However, I have a hard time imagining that New York would even exist close to what it is today had the Torah not been given. Would there be a USA without the influence the Torah had on the founders of America? Which mighty nation would currently be ruling over what we see today as New York? Without Torah, what would have happened to us humans once nuclear weapons were developed? My vision of a world without Torah is even bleaker than the one painted here. Baruch Hashem, we do have Torah!

(41)
Rachel,
June 6, 2011 11:17 PM

Best Aish article ever!

This is outstanding -- a real grasp of the impact of Judaism on the rest of the world. Torah truly is a light to the nations, and we should remember that in our dealings with others.

(40)
Johnnny O'Dwyer,
June 6, 2011 4:22 PM

We're not there yet.

The New York without Torah described by Sazra is of course a hypothetical scenario, but all around us we can observe the effect on this world of the influence of people who are themselves without Torah. Not only individuals, but also governments and lawmakers. Take for example the laws on abortion, one-sex marriage, etc. The Chosen People and also everyone who is on God's side still have an enormous burden in upholding the values of Torah in this world of ours.

Kara,
June 7, 2011 8:57 AM

Israel vs Palestine

I was seeing the difference brought home here. It is sad that others do not see it.

Anonymous,
June 12, 2011 2:05 AM

Abortion?

Abortion is the right thing to do under some circumstances. But the world has twisted the circumstances out of shape. Nowadays, people abort their children for no reason other than that they don't want them, or even if they keep them treat them as mistakes and are lesser parents then they could be. The modern high rate of abortions is, I think, caused by the notion that sex before marriage isn't wrong. This has changed and destroyed any morality in Western culture beyond not murdering. Western culture is still racist and still sexist, because it lacks the ability to comprehend what sexism means. So yes, I agree with you.

(39)
Melanie Vliet,
June 6, 2011 3:27 PM

Fascinating!

What a fascinating and imaginative narrative! Thank you for so opening our minds to the far-reaching significance of G-d's Word (even apart from the redemption it offers us from the separation that our sin imposed between man and HaShem). I do have one question, though: without universal education, how could the technology--and perhaps even the art and business--that we enjoy have come into being?

(38)
Miriam,
June 6, 2011 2:28 PM

Statue of Liberty

The first thing when any Immigrant landed in NYC was the Statue of Liberty... a beacon of hope, liberty from oppression and the possibility for a better life. Historically, the idea that your children could have a better life than you was near impossible outside of Torah and not even conceivable within the pre-Torah world.
Fabulous Article and very true in more than just the examples that are brought out.

(37)
PCon,
November 10, 2010 10:52 AM

The Legacy of Ethical Monotheism

As a practicing Catholic, I am humbled and grateful to the Jews for bringing to the world the gift of Torah. When one understands the impact of this message, it becomes obvious that mankind will always resort to the Law of Nature--which, as we see in the animal world, means caring only for yourself and your "group"--unless they are tempered by the Law of God. Imagine, over 3000 years ago, in a world where murder and torture was typically performed to please the god of the moment for personal gain, this small Jewish nation brought forth the message that there is ONE God who commands ONE moral code, which is to treat EVERYONE with justice and decency. This must have been such a daunting task that it's incredible some people are misguided and believe the term "Chosen People" is chauvinistic. On the contrary, the Jews were chosen to carry a tremendous burden in passing on this lesson. It is my hope that Jews and Christians--and others--will work together to perpetuate this message through the world.

(36)
Anonymous,
November 10, 2010 10:52 AM

In a world without Torah, anything is possible. Every possible perversion can be lauded as an "alternative lifestyle." Sara Yocheved Rigler has written an excellent article showing just how dehumanizing a world withoud Torah would be. The secular world should heed her words, and we should all beware.

(35)
Chuck Siegel,
November 10, 2010 10:51 AM

Sara does it again!

This is such a wonderful history lesson of our religion, brought into the context of life today. While peoples of other religions need to learn this about the Jews, it is even more important that all Jews remember our function as being a light onto all peoples through our actions. Beautiful job Sara, please continue to teach us through your writing.

(34)
Menucha Chana,
November 10, 2010 10:51 AM

I found your article to be fascinating and enlightening, just perfect for Shavuot. Thanks.

(33)
Anonymous,
November 10, 2010 10:50 AM

A world without God

Dear Mrs. Rigler:
It was a pleasure as well as a learning experience in reading your article. It made perfect sense. The laws we possess, we possess for our own good as well as the good of mankind.

(32)
Paul Cohen,
May 21, 2010 5:05 PM

God Is Not the Angel of Evil

Sara, you make a peculiar remark in this article, which no one has seemed to notice. You speak of the inner choices and moral battles God uses to form us, referring to, among others, "Jacob wrestling with the angel of evil." But Jacob was wrestling with God! And that is according to his own confession: "And Jacob asked and said, I pray You, reveal Your name. And He said, Why do you ask after My name? And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Face of God; for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:29-30).
God did not come to do evil as Jacob's adversary. He came to bless Jacob! The adversary was within, coming from Jacob's fears based on his past ways and doings. God made Jacob face these things, and brought him to the place where Jacob prevailed with God and man, being named Israel. So how is it you see God as the adversary? That is because today Israel faces a similar situation, with God coming to make the nation face its past, and how it has deplorably behaved towards Him, in order that Israel may come into its birthright and the true meaning of its name.

(31)
Gebretensae,
May 19, 2010 10:57 AM

very enlightning

I have benefitted a great enlightment from this article.
It is very enlightning indeed, and very brillianly presented.
I wish God's blessing to the autor.

(30)
Karin Kress,
May 18, 2010 2:56 PM

This was a great article until it came to the part of Torah being linear and the world be cyclical ! That is the polar opposite of what the reality of it is !! The world sees things as linear...the "we just go marching on" attitude, not paying any mind to history & actually learning from it, not realizing G-d's purpose. The Torah teaches everything in cycles: the feasts, the Sabbaths, the New Moons...We are always in a state of "renewal" ! Israel is likened to the moon in that is ALWAYS renewing itself. Just as Israel has its down times, it always rises up again. All of the "moedim of The Lord " mentioned in Vayikra 23 are given as "convocations"... rehearsals in which, as we 'do them', we learn more of the character of G-d, thereby elevating Israel to a level pleasing to Him. Throughout eternity it will be "cyclical" as we are commanded to keep Pesach, Shavuot, & Succot forever!! That's CYCLICAL !!

(29)
ruth housman,
May 17, 2010 8:19 PM

majesty

The desert is a place of great beauty. it is not an arid place devoid of life, rather the dunes glow and produce such beautiful even voluptuous shapes in the shifting light as dawn proceeds toward dusk. There are inhabitants of this place, all kinds of animals that thrive on heat and are able to sustain low water conditions. The desert is a world unto itself, and when the desert blooms, it is paradise. The key is water.
We were watered at Sinai, and the message contained there was that we are never going to be "deserted". Even when it does appear, life is inordinately cruel, there is a story of hope and that story began with Moses and the Ten Commandments.
There are of course, many other stories, but the course of history, the river for the Jews, seems to be an important exodus out of Egypt.
I have heard rabbis talk about the show time aspects of the fire that was not consumed, but not the meaning of the word fire itself, because fire is for flame in English, and that word is about love itself, to have a flame. And yes, all the other words and meanings are true of that fire, and that burning, and what burns on in us, producing sparks.

(28)
ira berkowitz,
May 17, 2010 5:51 PM

thank you sarah

i thoroughly enjoyed reading this. i wil read it several more times, at least. i intend to savor, repeatedly, each and every paragraph. you are blessed with the gift of being able to extract, from myriad thoughts and ideas, the essence of what should be understood not onlly by every jew, but every other human being who desires that the world become healed. again, thank you.

(27)
Anonymous,
May 17, 2010 3:34 PM

There has to be balance. Without the Torah it's lopsided.

Sara I love the way you think and write. When I took that tour with you to NY what I saw was the world today is on it's way back to those times without the Torah. I could also say without the influence of the Torah. The culture of death is in this society now with abortions and now doctor assisted suicide being debated. When a prison let criminals loose on the streets before their sentence was up; because they were overcrowded and cost to much to keep them there. Only to murder more people and commit more crimes when released. When the 10 commandments are removed from schools and courthouses. When crime is on the rise and people question why? Why is God letting all of this happen? The people chosed not to let his words speak to society. Honoring Shavuot by 365 days of the year reading, praying, and living by the Torah. The gift of the Jews and for all people or to say the Gift of God to all people and society; can be the gift that keeps on giving. It has to get worse before it gets better sometimes. We are in the" worse" in society. It will get better when society adhers to the Torah once again. All will know that "Father God knows best!"

(26)
Anonymous,
May 17, 2010 3:07 AM

I reallly liked the important points raised, Torah was created in a world with a lot of staggering, rampant injustice. I also felt, whoa, way to demonize Hinduism, a religion you know little about and are not equipped to make a realistic, objective comparison with. Also, Let's remember that while America may have been shaped by 'Torah' values, a good and just god does not advocate mass theft, rape, murder and destruction of half a planet. We could argue that Torah does not support this, but the command to murder all those in a land of different religon because you have a 'right' to is is Torah sanctioned, as is the choice to murder all exceptwomen and female children, to 'keep' for yourself, whatever that means.

(25)
Jeff,
May 14, 2010 6:57 PM

nice, but too broadly argued

Generally a nice piece, but seems to confuse the Torah's obligations for individuals with those prescribed for governments/rulers. Also misreads the Declaration's commitment to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" by taking "life" out of context to argue that the government has some duty to diminish everyone's liberty and pursuit of happiness in order to provide healthcare. That is the opposite of the founders' ntent - which is that the government leave such matters to the people themselves. Etc.... Dangerous to argue that the Torah wants government to take such responsibilities away from the people...

(24)
Mrs. Joy Smeltzer,
June 8, 2008 12:00 AM

I am so happy to have discovered the ''Aish'' website. The articles are infused with great intelligence and spirituality. I have been hungry for this kind of Judaism and am happy to have found it. I can feel my soul and mind being fed.

Please see above one-line summary.

(23)
Anonymous,
June 7, 2008 9:25 PM

incredible...

Thank you so much for this article. It gives me a whole new perspective on shavuos...

(22)
Danielle,
June 3, 2008 12:06 AM

Just as uplifting and thought provoking as your workshops and lectures!!!

After having the privilage to participate in the workshop you conducted at JLE in Los Angeles just a few weeks ago, I was eager to read this article when I got the email from Aish listing newly added articles. It is fascinating to contemplate how much ancient society continues to influence modern times! I also appreciated your citing Rabbi Ken Spiro''s book, WorldPerfect. It is one of my favorites!

The fact is that even America itself couldn''t exist without the Torah. Engraved on the Liberty Bell, emblazoned in the Declaration of Independance and punctuated throughout Washington D.C. itself (and the nation) are reminders that we hold these "truths to be self-evident" when in fact, they have not always been self-evident and quite the opposite was true during the ancient periods.

We can debate the specifics of what those civilizations may have contributed or how life was living within those societies, but one main theme shines through despite how boring school teachers try to make it: the ancients were cruel. Today, it is hard for us to relate to cruelity in such a sense because we were raised with social institutions and taught to abide by the laws that govern our society which has undergone so many movements to improve the quality of life for all. It is due to this inability to comprehend cruelity in such a sense that ancient history is by far one of the hardest subjects for a good percentage of the population. Perhaps this is why the Holocaust occupies so many minds, a modern example of the cruelity we cannot comprehend. Sure, there is cruelity in the world still, but not in the same sense as the ancient world''s cruelity where you could be imprisioned and sold into slavery merely for existing, where rape was a privilage for the victor of war and where murder and suffering were as common as preparing dinner. This is not merely a matter of injustice, it is a matter of differing morals which the Torah altered - a standard set of morals for the world given and taught through Gd''s people: the Jews.

This Shavuot, I hope that everyone has a new sense of pride for how far we have come as humans in the family of humankind as well as how far we still have to go. Have pride for Judaism! Rabbi Spiro (quoting Rabbi Nachman Bulman) said it best: It is the purpose of Jewish society to show the world how to combine a relationship of Gd and man with a relationship of man to man. Our mission is yet to be fulfilled, but IYH it will be soon!

Well done, Sarah Yoheved! Thought provoking and stimulating as always!

Regards from Los Angeles,
Dani

(21)
debbi rubin,
June 2, 2008 9:07 AM

living in the sinai

forget having NYC there would be no citys and we would still be walking around MT SINAI to this day!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for this wonderful article it will be talk about though my temple come this sunday night and monday morning

(20)
Anonymous,
June 1, 2008 5:16 PM

2 minutes . .

Mordechai,you cant compare 2 minutes (120 seconds) to 7 hours!! while much has to be said for those 2 minutes, mi keamche yisroel is still held true.

(19)
Anonymous,
June 1, 2008 11:00 AM

Big detail omitted

One important fact was forgotten. "Histakel b''oraysa u''varah alma": Hashem k''v''yachol used the Torah as a blueprint for this world, so in actuality, without the Torah, NYC wouldn''t even exist (or the rest of the world, for that matter).

(18)
Celia Leal,
May 26, 2007 7:29 AM

Revolutionary Revelation

Dear Mrs. Rigler:Thank you so much for this enlightening article. Should more people on our civilized Western society have the vision you convey to us all, perhaps not only Israelis, but all societies who have within committed members on behalf of mankindÂ´s wellbeing would awake to the blessings which mean having received Torah!

God Bless you and please, keep enlightening us with such articles!

(17)
Juan Pablo Gomez,
May 25, 2007 11:58 AM

Torah's legacy IS quite clear

I kind of disagree with Mr Peter Gaffney, because, Torah was known before was completely reveleaded at Mt Sinai, According the Sages, Adam and Eve knew Torah, as The Jewish people Do today. Noaj, was a prophet and Knew Torah. Avraham studied at Shem's Yeshivah, and Torah wasn't reavealed at that moment completely. Torah is not just a book, Torah is instruction, even if you do a parallell (compare).Pre-colombine cultures, , they have a lot of Torah's influence, Â¿Is it coincidence?. I don't think so.All mankind descend from Noaj. and G-d instructed him, obviously with Torah. The thing that many people had chosen different paths, is because of the free will, and (it's personal), by this mean, the world will be redeamed.

(16)
RK,
May 25, 2007 9:35 AM

Further developments....

'Indeed, if our government and society today had been taken straight from Torah without further development, we'd still have slavery, possibly a monarchy and a draconian justice system under which homosexuals, adulterers and disobedient children could be put to death.' (Gaffney, 2007)

It is precisely the further developments of Torah that have perverted Judiac values. The halachic laws of monarchy and slavery and capitol punishment are remotely related to our current understanding of what a monarchy or slavery is.

Just by way of example: Sages stated that one who acquires a slave actually acquires a master. Some of the laws pertaining slavery are: a master may not give the slave work that he himself wouldn't do; he may not enjoy a comfort such as a pillow if there is only one - he must give it to his slave rather than use it himself...There are numerous laws regarding monarchy and capitol punishment as well. If studied thouroughly, Judiac monarchy hardly resembles the monarchies of history. If a court sentenced a person to death more than once in seventy years (!!!!) it was considered, by the Jewish sages of the times, a barbaric court.

The halachic laws in every societal aspect represent an awesome understanding of human nature. Before dismissing Jewish monarchy or slavery it is important to thouroughly understand the inherent differences between Western understanding of those institutions and the actuality of those institutions as they existed.

(15)
Natan,
May 21, 2007 3:48 PM

Incorrect pronouncements abound in this article

While I whole-heartedly agree with the thrust of the article, it is important to avoid false statements so that people will not discount your important message.Ms. Rigler states: "The division of time into seven-day units punctuated by the Sabbath, a day of rest, is an invention of the Torah. It corresponds to no natural cycle." - I am guessing that you are simply not aware of the fact of the seven musical notes in each octave or the seven basic hues of the rainbow/prism, which are, of course, natural phenomena that a scientist would conclude the seven-day week is based on. The list goes on and on with things like these (the ten Sefirot and/or Dibrot could easily be seen as "manufactured" from the ten fingers of the hands). We as Jews should have no problem with these associations - after all the physical world is just an extension/clothing of spiritual reality. Therefore, it is only "natural" that there should be obvious corresponding "numbers" in the two realms.It is just really damaging to our message when we make these false statements about scientific fact. Educated scientists then just call us "ignorant" and cause themselves/others to ignore the meat of the spiritual message.

Sam Bilner,
June 6, 2011 12:52 PM

"Seven days" unit

I understood the writer to mean simply that "It corresponds to no natural cycle" in time, no natural 7 day unit that we call a week. The fact that I may have 7 brothers would not inspire me to create a week of 7 days. There have been various movements in the world to change the work week to 10 days (USSR) or less.

(14)
Roberto Schapiro,
May 21, 2007 12:16 PM

A world w/o Torah would look just like the 3rd reich

Many of us heard about Shavuot back in elementary school simply as a 'tradition' and - without noticing - our understanding remained at that basic level through adulthood.

This insightful article illuminates how most of the things we hold holly, which make our world a more humane and a nicer place to live in, stem from that momentous day. Without the Torah, we might still have plasma TVs, cellphones & IPODs but our society would look like nazi Germany or the USSR (no wonder Hitler & Stalin tried to eliminate us).

(13)
Peter Gaffney,
May 21, 2007 7:43 AM

Torah's legacy is perhaps not quite so clear

While it would be foolish to deny the role of Torah in shaping Western morality, justice and democracy, I doubt a modern world based only on classical Greco-Roman civilization would be quite so benighted. For example, the Golden Rule has been found as far back as 4000 B.C. in Egypt and seems to have been discovered independently by many cultures around the world; we're all familiar with the Lakota (Native American) proverb: "Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins." I would suggest monotheism is also a natural stage in a culture's spiritual and intellectual evolution; I'm sure the Greeks would have entertained the notion without any influence from Judaism.

Further, I think it's unreasonable to suggest that without Torah the principles of democracy and justice would not have developed beyond their classical forms in the course of the past 2000 years. Indeed, if our government and society today had been taken straight from Torah without further development, we'd still have slavery, possibly a monarchy and a draconian justice system under which homosexuals, adulterers and disobedient children could be put to death. We would also have no separation of church and state.

The vitality of modern Western civilization is in large part the result of the dynamic combination of Judaic and Classical culture (with a not-insignificant contribution from Islam), but I'm not sure it's possible to know exactly what elements our society today would be lacking without one or the other source.

(Incidentally, the adoption of the Torah as a central sacred text is only one aspect of the Jewish influence on Western civilization. There is also, of course, the ongoing contribution of Jewish individuals to science, philosophy, business, etc. I'm sure the extent to which European societies during various periods have been open to Jewish intellectual and economic participation correlates pretty well to those societies' level of prosperity and progress.)

(12)
ec,
May 21, 2007 3:14 AM

One of her best!

A "What if" fantasy based on real sources--brilliantly done!More on how the Torah influenced the concept of a weekly day of rest: The book "Everyday Life in Ancient Rome" reports that many workers in Rome had no more than thirty to forty noworking days in the course of a year(and those days-off were in honor of pagan festivals or the annual date designated to honor their vocation's patron "god"). This continued until 321 c.e., when Constantine officially accepted Christianity, which of course took its concept of Sabbath from the Torah. My only criticism is that when I read "Gift of the Jews", I found Cahill to be nauseatingly condescending toward Jewish men, including Avraham Avinu. Many anti-Semites are also fascinated by Judaism, as has been shown repeatedly thorougout Jewish history. Maybe Cahill could've still been quoted, but as a "See, he's not on our side but even HE can't hide from the truth of the Jewish contribution". The article made him sound like he admires Jews, which he obviously doesn't. He's merely fascinated.Other than that, Mrs. Rigler created a great, fantastic, profound piece of writing!

(11)
Chana Manusharov,
May 21, 2007 1:30 AM

nice points brought up, but could be misleading

nice points well taken, but there is the ultimate reality - if there wasn't Torah - the blueprint for the whole creation - there would be no world to speak of! The Torah doesn't simply improve the reality of civilization, it IS the ultimate source of reality!

(10)
Victor Hafichuk,
May 20, 2007 10:33 PM

Precious - I loved it.

Sara Rigler's article factually explains the value, at least in part, of Solomon's advice in his conclusion in Ecclesiastes:

"This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his mitzvot; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 HNV)

(9)
Alex tToy,
May 20, 2007 12:26 PM

It's a Wonderful Life

Sara Yoheved Rigler's thought experiment reminded me of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," where the hero gets to see what the world would have been like had he never existed. That world, called Pottervile, is cruel,ugly and debased. Without the Torah, the same would have been true of our world, as Ms. Rigler ably shows.

(8)
Mordechai,
May 20, 2007 12:03 PM

What can be said for Israeli society?

You mentioned India as an example of a society where Torah has not penetrated, having seen a young man lie on a crowded thoroughfare for seven hours, until he bled to death. To our great sorrow, just two to three weeks ago in the State of Israel, a motorcyclist lay mortally wounded for over 2 minutes at an intersection as over 30 cars passed by and none had the decency to pull over and try to help. One doesn't have to go to India to see what lack of Torah breeds. One can see it in one's own backyard!

The feminist movement was born of secular not Torah thinking. Today children are raised by others than the mother, our elderly are placed in assisted living and nursing homes, the infirmed too.

Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel are held up and honored as "mothers", but not today. In Torah the children, our elderly, our infirmed, our poor and the women were cared for by families.

Without Torah to honor womanhood, the family falls apart and so too society.

People don't think but as more children are raised by a continual shift of others, they miss out on loyality, compassion etc. For people then become replacable.

HaShem created Family and teaches so in Torah.

Nancy,
May 11, 2015 6:22 PM

To commenter #6 Vickie Matthews

Re: Placing elderly people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. While people are living longer, they may also be physically and mentally unable to care for themselves. Have you ever tried to care for an individual with Alzheimer's Disease? I'm sorry to say that love and devotion are not enough, although they are of course crucial factors. Sometimes people need professional help. Re: Children being raised by "others." There are a growing number of men who enjoy being stay at home fathers while their wives work outside of the home full time. As long as the children are loved and cared for, it does not matter which responsible adult is at home with them. Finally, there are MANY women who wish they could stay home with their children. This has always been the case, as there have always been widows, widowers and yes divorced parents in our society. Remember, one size does not fit all.

(5)
Michael S. Cummings,
June 7, 2005 12:00 AM

Literacy in the Greek and Roman worlds

As much as I enjoyed the article ["The revolutionary revolution"] I must point out that Sara Rigler's comments on literacy in the Greek and Roman worlds are wrong. It is impossible to do more than estimate, but the evidence [very clear and very strong--I won't bore you with it] suggests that overall from 20-30% of the population was literate, and at certain times and certain places [e.g., Athens in the fifth through third centuries BC, Hellenistic Cos and Syracuse, Italy and Rome in the 1st century BC and 1st and 2nd centuries AD] it was clearly higher than that. Most classical thinkers believed that people in general should be able to read and supported at least some basic education. Fewer, but still a significant number, advocated extensive public education.

These reflections on how Torah changed the world's humanity were truly inspirational. We seldom give thought to a world without helping agencies for everyone, no matter their station in life. It is good to sit back, reflect, and celebrate The Torah on this holy day.

(3)
Manuel Gwiazda,
May 22, 2004 12:00 AM

Came to my mind while reading this article

The other day my boss and owner of the Company I work with asked me..

As you feel empathy for others suffering, tell me what is wrong in this Company, that so many people are quitting ?

Of course, I told him, I feel empathy for others suffering (..it is the Jewish way of life..)

Then, "I tell you facts but no names of any of my co-workers" (..I am not going to commit Lashon Hara..)

And I berated my boss like I have been longing for the past ten years

I think that G'd bestowed me that opportunity, He though that maybe after studying Torah for the past two years every week, I was ready to fulfill this mission to pursue justice in the workplace for my co-workers and myself.

(2)
Barbara,
May 21, 2004 12:00 AM

nice analogy!

Fascinating look at a world without "the Book." You made some great points I never even thought of!!

(1)
Anonymous,
May 20, 2004 12:00 AM

Many thanks to you, Sara Rigler, for your thoughts. a world without G-d and Torah. You have caused me to think. Shalom.